The Reality in a Kick
by the Sin Hunter Alchemist
Summary: Minato is struck with the realization that he's going to be a father. His child is real. It's his boy.


AN: I know statistically, around 85% of you reading this will be female, but happy Father's Day. Enjoy (and any emotional ooc-ness you think you see will be understood by any parents that love their children). And excuse the cheesiness of the last line. It's all in the spirit, I'm sure you understand (plus, the first time that happens is special, from what I understand - I don't fully understand, of course, as I am of the female variety, but I have been insured that it is special).

* * *

Minato Namikaze was terrified.

Minato "Konoha's Yellow Flash" Namikaze, Hokage of Konoha, successor of Hiruzen "The Professor" Sarutobi. Former student of the Legendary Jiraiya. Teacher of one of the best medic nins since Tsunade _and _the last Hatake, son of the White Fang. Hell, he had been the first - and probably last - jounin not from the compound to teach an Uchiha.

And he was terrified. Terrified of something that was barely seven inches long.

"It's a boy?" he asked, voice a pitch higher than usual.

Kushina nodded, staring fondly down at the ultra sound in her hands.

They were tangled together on the couch, Kushina leaning back against Minato. He pushed aside red hair to properly lean over her shoulder and see the photo. The squiggly black and white lines made little sense to him, genius that he was, but it sure was something.

"Does it freak you out?"

Her voice was oddly subdued.

"Completely," he admitted. He was glad she couldn't see his face because his eyes were practically round they were so wide. "And the old lady said he was healthy?"

"He's perfect."

He wasn't entirely sure she was answering the question, but the idea of a healthy baby boy alleviated enough of the terror that - for a split second - he felt as if his heart was doing summersaults in his chest.

"A boy…" He hadn't really thought too much about what it would be like to have a baby before. It had always been a vague concept. But now… Now, he could see his boy's blue eyes - they always had blue eyes, right? - and his chubby little cheeks. He'd probably barely have any hair; if he had any, it would likely be wisps of blonde, possibly strawberry blonde. He'd have a hell of a smile, though Minato wasn't sure who he wanted it to take after. He could grin like an idiot, but Kushina's smiles… Kushina's smile on his child's face… He had never heard of something that sounded so- he didn't even know what it sounded like, but his insides constricted and he had to swallow the lump in his throat.

Minato let his hold loosen and his hands fell from Kushina's sides to her rounding belly. He had often done this in the first month or so of her pregnancy, not believing that a baby was actually growing in there. Ninja never seemed to have children, so they hadn't believed it could actually happen to them.

But he'd gotten frightened after seeing the first ultra sound. A tiny life _was_ actually growing in there. And Minato was strong; the strongest nin in Konoha, to be exact. What if he hurt it?

So he'd stopped resting his hands over the barely there presence because it had been unreal and oh so very fragile.

But now he -_ he _- was real and he was healthy and would be strong like his dad and his mom. And Minato was going to be his dad - a damn good one at that.

And that first step to being a dad was not being afraid to touch his child. Even in utero.

He wasn't expecting to feel anything in return though. Especially not the firm bump that felt like someone was punching him through Kushina's stomach - albeit weakly.

"What the hell was that?!" He demanded, suddenly half way across the room and now in front of her.

Kushina laughed. Not a cute laugh that was like a trill from a flute or any of the poetic shit Jiraiya waxes on about in his books, but a deep belly laugh that involved occasionally pointing and curling around herself, clutching her swollen stomach.

"Minato Namikaze! That's your boy!" she was about to choke out between laughs. She was finally able to calm down enough to speak when she saw his panicked face, sending her over the edge again.

"Tell a man to infiltrate Iwagakure to retrieve a scroll that no one is even sure exists and he's excited. But a little baby's kick scares him all the high hell."

"That was the baby?" Minato asked, awed. "That was our boy?"

Kushina smiled and held out her hand. After the briefest of hesitation, he took it. She guided his hand to her stomach, moving it to a better position as her face took on a look of distant concentration. A moment after their hands stilled, Minato felt it again. A nudge, firm but faint.

He didn't even realize it, but Minato was now sitting on the couch again, this time in front of Kushina. His face betrayed the feelings running through him, but he wasn't aware of them. All he knew in that moment was his son.

"That's my boy?" he asked again. It wouldn't fall - it never had before and he wouldn't let it now - but he felt a tear in his eye.

That was his boy...

"Happy Father's Day, Minato," was Kushina's only reply.


End file.
